My name is Alicia and I have struggled with an Eating disorder for 19 years along with depression and self harm. I was hospitalized last may for my eating disorder and self harm and I never thought that I would be able to be in a better place than I am now. I still struggle with eating disorder thoughts and self harm thoughts, but I have learned better ways to cope and I can honestly say that I am much better than I have ever been in my whole journey with my eating disorder. I am not saying that I am perfect, or fully recovered but I am saying that it is possible to get recovery and I want that for everybody because living with an Eating Disorder is a crappy existent! I have not self harmed since last year and that is also something that I never thought I would be able to stop doing, I still struggle some days, but I am learning how to cope better! For anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder and self harm it does get better and I hope that by sharing some of my story I can inspire others to see that recovery is possible! 

Hi my name is Elania. I suffer from depression. Yeah I smile but its all fake. I self harm but not all the time. I write my thoughts down in a notebook I bought. The reason I self harm is because I’m numb I feel like it would take the pain away from what I’m thinking. I self harm because of what people say about me like my weight and my ugliness. Yes I have friends they help me but it doesn’t work but I just need some more good advice please. 

Panic attacks, anxiety, depression and self harm. I let those define me over a year ago. That was my reality, and it still is, but this time I am defining myself trough the experiences that I have acquired trough getting healthy. 

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Depression is the result of not treating the symptoms early and accumulate over the years. I wish my parents and I knew the symptoms early. Started self-harm since 11 year old but only receive treatment at 16 year old. To me when I was young, I thought banging my head on the wall is a normal thing for children. I still struggle with self-harm..Every scar on me represent my sadness or anger that people cause…I not proud of my scar but neither am I ashamed of it..I am still fighting!

Self harm is no joke, many people think it’s for attention. Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc.. it’s like any other illness. At age 16 I was diagnosed with depression it was the toughest part of my life. Everyone around me even some of my own family called me lazy, conceited, and a attention seeker. They didn’t know how bad it was, I slept the whole day, didn’t want to get out of my bed or leave the house having depression drains your energy you start thinking to yourself how life would be if you just kill yourself.

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My entire life since I can remember I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression. High school is when it started to manifest the most, and so on through college and my early adult years (now). Each stage I have dealt with these issues in unhealthy coping mechanisms weather it be self harm, reckless behavior or most recently and certainly the most heavily with drinking. What I didn’t realize was the last two years of my college career into my first year as a working adult was that I had fully developed Bipolar tendencies. It wreaked havoc on my life, my relationships, my work, my finances and especially my self worth. Periods of manic ups and depressive downs had me feeling absolutely crazy. I was reckless, and quite out of control. My reputation was at stake and my life was in trouble. While you may be apprehensive in the moment or not able to help yourself, what I have to share is that when you’re ready, you must. Since getting myself to my doctor and having a candid conversation, she’s prescribed me with the correct medications and I’ve been working on myself consistently. I can say without a doubt that I am absolutely 100% more functional and stable while being correctly diagnosed and helped by medical professionals. There is help and there are solutions! Let someone know you need help, whoever it might be, I didn’t tell anyone except my doctor and proceeded not to tell anyone until I knew my treatment worked. Not every day will be perfect, but It IS absolutely worth it and you can get better and live a stable life. Please help yourself if yourself is all you have. You are worth it and you are able to find stability. You are NOT alone. Brie

Navigating a world that often feels cold, insensitive, and unaccepting of mental illness is lifelong work, a healing journey with ups and downs that has no end. As a highly sensitive person who has lived with anxiety/depression/OCD/ADHD since childhood, struggled with self-harm, substance abuse, and eating disorders, and is a rape and domestic abuse survivor, I have sought out many forms of therapy over my lifetime, both traditional and alternative.

One concept that I became familiar with in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is having a toolbox. Every individual’s toolbox looks different and will evolve over time. It is essentially a list of our skills and techniques for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. I would like to share some of my go-to tools for self-soothing and traversing times of heightened anxiety/the unknown: 

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I’ve had depression since middle school. It hasn’t always been terrible though. It started out like an annoying bug you can’t get rid of. I developed the coping mechanism of self harm. My mother found out and took me to a dinner and had me bawling my eyes out in public while she shamed me for it and basically told me to knock it off. It was humiliating. Once high school hit I was doing a little better up until I got a boyfriend. I wasn’t ready for a boyfriend but got one anyway because that’s what everybody else was doing. He was older than me by a couple years. He sexually assaulted me. After that my mental health became so extremely terrible I freaked out and ran away. I had no way of dealing with my feelings besides self harm and even that wasn’t enough. Once I was found my mom sent me to go be with my dad for a while. He’s a pretty toxic and verbally abusive person. But he paid for therapy and medicine. Neither helped. I ended up living there up until high school graduation, when I got kicked out. I moved in with my boyfriends family and felt terrible about it. Things just keep getting worse from there. Me and my boyfriend moved out on our own. I’m currently unemployed and dealing with a terrible amount of guilt and back into self harm. I’m only 18 and I feel like I’ve already gone through enough. I have nobody but my boyfriend and cat. I’ve burned too many bridges and nobody likes to be with the depressed girl. I don’t know how to handle it anymore. All the guilt and pain from the past.

Mybname is Paul. I have been dealing with mental illness most of my life. I have PTSD, DEPRESSION, ANXIET, AND SUICIDAL TENDENCES.  I mention all of thes in bold lettering to offer a hand to say, “I do struggle myself.”  The blessing is I have a job that allows me to give a little bit of myself back.  I have tried to end my life more then once. I know how addicting cutting can be or just the thoughts of ending everything.  I am the last person to ask for help. Even when I should be the first,  I Apologize if this seems to be all over the place. My mind since my brain injury from assault lt has changed my view on life.  I had to relearn how to walk and talk all over again from being in a comma. I do have static paralyses in my right hand. I am so learning how to better myself every day. Sometimes you just need a little help.  Due the COVID 19. I have retreated and not looked for any support on my own. I experience a few NAMI programs. I would like to force myself to make time to manage my mental health the best I can..So, for inspiration.  I am requesting help.  My life is Stagnant and is a lot of struggling on a daily bases. I work as a personal trainer with people with disabilities. It is very rewarding to know that I am doing with folks is pain management.  And is rewarding the little gains of lowering someones pain and mental outlook on what they can do to better them self. Personally finically I am barely making it for for now.

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And I knew I wasn’t right 

So I planned on going that Friday night 

And I knew I wasn’t okay

Making it the perfect place for me to stay 

See, for most, a mental hospital isn’t a choice 

It’s one of those things where you are left without a voice 

Brought there suddenly against your will

Then before you know it, you are given a bunch of random pills 

But for me, it was where I was supposed to be

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